PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley soccer team got their first conference win of the season on Wednesday, beating Drake 2-1 at Mediacom Stadium. The Braves improve to 5-4-5, while Drake drops to 3-8-2.
Pepe Mellado returned to the starting XI after missing most of the season due to injury. This was Mellado's first appearance since Sept. 3 against Eastern Illinois
During the first twenty minutes of play, both teams displayed mutual respect, adopting a conservative approach to assess each other's strengths and vulnerabilities on the field.
In the 25th minute,
Pepe Mellado scored the opening goal off a freekick near the right side of the box. The goal was Mellado's first this season and sixth of his Bradley career.
Drake kept possession of the ball for the remainder of the first half but could not find the equalizer. BU's goalkeeper,
Drew Berry, made two critical saves against the Bulldogs' most dangerous opportunities. Berry totaled five saves in the match.
BU finished the first half with two shots and one corner, while Drake had four shots and two corner kicks.
During the second half, Bradley stayed organized on defense and gave the Bulldogs the ball to try and preserve the result.
The Bulldogs almost found the leveler in the 71st minute, but
Drew Berry and the right post denied the goal for Drake.
In the 74th minute,
Ian Ferguson extended BU's lead after a well-executed counterattack. The goal was Ferguson's second goal during the 2023 regular season.
The Bulldogs tried staging a comeback, but time would be of the essence. Drake scored with 28 seconds remaining to make it 2-1.
Head Coach
Jim DeRose received a yellow card with three minutes left to play.
Coming Up
The Braves will be back in action next Sunday, October 22, at 1 p.m. as they host University of Illinois Chicago at Shea Stadium. BU has a record of 8-11-0 against the Flames. The last meeting between both teams was in 2022, and UIC took a 6-2 victory in Peoria, IL.
